Chapter 2: Something Found

Hermione lay on her back with her eyes closed as she listened to Ginny get ready for the day. Soon after the door to the adjoining bathroom shut she heard the sound of water bouncing off of linoleum. She was glad to have a few moments to herself before she had to face everyone downstairs. Especially Sirius and Remus. Once they saw her face they would know she had overheard their conversation last night. She was positively transparent when she knew something she wasn't supposed to. Just as she was contemplating all the ways she could avoid the two marauders until she left for Hogwarts, a fluffy ball of fur blurred her vision and settled down on her face.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione exclaimed, an act she quickly regretted as she caught some of the cat's orange hair in her mouth. She reached up and pulled Crookshanks off her face. She placed him on top of her chest and put her chin to her chest so she could stare at him.

"Any ideas on how to find out what Sirius and Remus are hiding?" Her half-kneazle tilted its head to the side and stared back at her with blank eyes. "What? You can help a half mad convict you barely know sneak into a school full of children but you can't help your owner? The person who controls whether or not you eat." Crookshanks sneezed. "Thought so."

"Are talking to your cat?"

Hermione turned toward the bathroom door to see Ginny standing there fully dressed. The younger girl's long red hair dripped down onto the floor as she gently ran one of the dark grey towels through it.

"Yes. Although it's infuriatingly one sided."

"What did you expect?" Ginny laughed throwing her towel on the end of her bed.

"Well, he is half-kneazle."

"Anyway, bathroom's all yours." She tugged on a dark blue sweatshirt. "I'll be downstairs. I need to write Dean back."

"I don't want to get up." Hermione whined.

"Sorry." She could hear the amusement in Ginny's voice. "Take a shower you'll feel better."

Shortly after Ginny left the room Hermione pushed Crookshanks off her chest and walked to the bathroom. She cringed as she eyed herself in the mirror above the sink. Purple bruises had formed under her eyes and her hair looked like a birds nest. "Awesome." She muttered to herself before leaning over and starting the shower. She waited until the water was near scalding before stepping in.

The skin on her back burned as the water beat down on her. Her head tilted back and she let the water untangle the mess she called hair. She spent longer in the shower than she intended to thinking about how to best go about figuring out the conversation she overheard last night. She could go the obvious route and just ask, but that would require admitting she eavesdropped and a lengthy explanation of her 'episodes'. She wasn't sure she was prepared to do either of those things so she quickly threw out that option. She could continue trying to eavesdrop on every conversation Sirius and Remus would have in the next two weeks and hope they slipped and revealed the name of the mystery man. That was also problematic because she didn't think she could continue doing that without eventually getting caught. She was about to give up when she remembered what Remus had said to Sirius when he brought up her episode on her first day at Grimmauld Place; 'we knew she would have echoes of her old life.'

A plan began to form in her mind. Instead of ignoring the twisting of her stomach, the clouding of her head, and the tightening of her chest, she would follow those feelings. She'd push the 'old life' part of the equation to the back of her mind and focus on one problem at a time. Yesterday in the library before the Order came back with Harry she had an episode while reaching for a book. Hermione could see the book in her mind; sitting on the top shelf of an old bookcase slightly peeking out between two others.

She felt a surge of adrenaline run through her as she turned off the shower and started getting dressed. Maybe the book wouldn't have all the answers she needed but it was a start. She had just finished pulling on an old grey sweater when her door opened. The old piece of wood bounced off the wall creating a bang that echoed throughout the room.

"Ronald!" Hermione exclaimed turning toward the boy. "I suggest you start practicing the age old tradition of knocking before you enter a room before I get one of your brothers to hex you! I could have been changing! Merlin, do you not think?"

Her rant was met with a red faced Ron Weasley. He was looking down at the floor clearly embarrassed. She felt regret wash over her. No doubt everyone in the house had heard her yelling.

"I'm sorry, Ron." She started. "I didn't get any sleep last night and I'm a little on edge. I shouldn't have yelled like that."

The redness in Ron's cheeks subsided slightly and he looked up at one of his best friends. "It's fine. Mum told me to come get you. Breakfast is ready."

Breakfast, to Hermione's relief, consisted of only her, Harry, and the Weasley's. Remus and Tonks had gone to Diagon Alley to pick up everyone's school supplies. No one knew where Sirius was. He was probably sleeping off a hangover. She overheard Mrs. Weasley quietly ranting to her husband about the bottles of firewhiskey she found in the garbage that morning. Hermione wondered how long the two men had stayed up after she went back to her room.

When Mrs. Weasley announced at the end of breakfast that she was giving everyone the day off of cleaning, Ron and Ginny let out identical whoops of excitement. She had decided that the house was mostly clean and that the kids should enjoy what was left of their summer. Harry and Ron quickly headed into the parlor to play chess before Mrs. Weasley changed her mind. Ginny asked Hermione if she wanted to go and watch the boys play, but Hermione made an excuse about some book she wanted to finish. It wasn't technically a lie. She really did want to finish a book; it just wasn't the kind of book Ginny was probably thinking of.

Hermione wasn't worried about being caught in the library. Only Remus ever came in here and he was out with Tonks. She wasted no time in finding the bookshelf at the back of the room. To her surprise the book was gone. There were small books, tall books, brown leather bound books, there were even a couple black leather bound books but none of them weren't the ones she was looking for. She tore apart the entire shelf. No one could have known about the book except…

"Looking for this, kitten?"

Hermione spun around so fast she had to grab onto the bookcase for support. Sirius was standing five feet away from her a thick black leather book in his right hand.

"Damn it." Hermione muttered placing her hands on her hips. She was caught and she knew it.

Sirius raised his eyebrows with a smirk on his face. "Who knew you had such a mouth on you?" She rolled her eyes and watched as he tossed the book from hand to hand.

"I thought you were sleeping off a hangover." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"So that was you spying on us last night." There was nothing but mirth in his eyes. "You really need work on, you know, not making noise when you listen in on private conversations."

Hermione had the decency to look embarrassed until something occurred to her. "You never mentioned a book last night. How did you know I'd be looking for it?"

"And they call you the smartest witch of your age. I thought you were supposed to be clever. Can't you figure it out?" He tripped over his own feet when he tried to take a step forward.

"Are you still drunk?" She asked torn between amusement and offense at his drunken comment. Sirius snorted and threw himself down into an armchair. "If you would let me see that book," Hermione continued reaching out for the book but the older man snatched it out of her reach. "I would be able to."

"Nope." Sirius popped the 'p'. "You have to figure it out on your own."

"Are you trying to be annoying or is that just your personality?" Sirius smiled sadly and looked up into her eyes. Hermione wondered what she said to put that look on his face.

"That's not the first time someone's said that to me." Sirius sighed and pushed himself off the chair. "If I were you I would forget about what you heard and go enjoy the rest of your summer with your friends." He moved toward the door and she watched as he tucked the book under his arm. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go sober up."

Hermione spent the rest of the day in the parlor watching Harry and Ron play exploding snaps and listening to Ginny talk about the new products the twins were working on for their future joke shop. Though she wouldn't admit it, she was impressed with the twins. They were brilliant. But no matter how brilliant their inventions or how big the explosions from the boy's game, she couldn't take Sirius's advice and forget about what she had heard. If anything her talk with Sirius had made her more curious; more determined. She wished she could talk to Ron and Harry about this, but she didn't even know what 'this' was. How could she explain something she herself didn't even understand?

When Remus came in to get them all for dinner later that night he found the four of them spread out on the floor laughing. Hermione was sure that Sirius would tell Remus that she had been spying on them last night. She expected him to look disappointed; to pull her aside and tell her the same thing Sirius had. But when she looked up and saw his face she was instantly confused. Remus had a shell-shocked look on his face and his eyes were full of joy and excitement. He looked like a little kid on Christmas day who just gotten everything he asked for.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked him hesitantly.

"I'm fantastic." Remus answered.

Harry sat up and looked at his ex-professor strangely. "Fantastic?" The boy repeated.

Remus's face lit up when he saw Harry. "Yes. Fantastic." Then he looked at Hermione who was sitting on Harry's right. His eyes softened and he smiled fondly at her. "We need you guys downstairs in the kitchen."

"Is something wrong?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Ron echoed.

"Just come downstairs." Remus brushed off their questions motioned toward the door.

The four teenagers got up and warily followed Remus down the stairs. They heard shouts coming from the kitchen. An unfamiliar voice was being muffled by the shut door. When Remus opened the door the shouts became more clear.

"Sirius, I need to see my family!"

Hermione followed Harry through the door and froze when she saw who was standing across from Sirius. The man turned around when he saw Sirius staring over his shoulder. Hermione couldn't help the gasp that escaped her mouth. Her stomach tightened painfully and her heart contracted harder in her chest than it ever had before. She couldn't breathe. The man across from them looked exactly like Harry upon first glance. However, there were obvious differences if anyone took the time to notice.

He had messy black hair, but unlike Harry's it curled slightly at the ends. His jaw was more square than Harry's and his eyes were more hazel than brown. He had on round framed glasses that were almost identical to Harry's. His shoulders were broader than Harry's and it was clear by the shape of his face that he was older. His bone structure was more defined and his face had lost all of the lingering baby fat that still remained in Harry's. Everything about this man was vaguely reminiscent of her best friend.

Hermione suddenly felt claustrophobic. Everything was closing in on her. There was something so familiar about the man across from her and it had nothing to do with how much he looked like Harry. Her head was pounding. It was like she was driving through fog. She knew she wouldn't be able to figure out what she was missing until it lifted. She wanted it to lift so badly. She would do anything. Anything to make the feelings inside her go away.

"Hermione?" The man said softly looking at her with longing eyes.

Suddenly the fog lifted and she remembered everything.

"James?"